Sighting apparatus for barbette or other guns.



Patented Sept. 24, IBM.

H. GRUBB. SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR BABBETTE UR'DTHEB GUNS.

(Application filed May 23. 1901.)

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No. 683,204. Patented Sept. 24, |90L n. sauna.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR BARBETTE OR OTHER GUNS.

(Application filed my 23. 1901.;

(No Model.)

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No. 683,204. Patented Sept. 24, I901.

H. GRUBB. SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR BARBETTE OR OTHER GUNS.

(Ap plicaion filed May 23. 1901.)

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(No Model.)

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Patented Sept. 24, I90I. H. GRUBB. SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR BABBETTE OROTHER GUNS.

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(Application filed may 28. 1901.)

(No Model.)

fire/Mar NiTED STATES PATENT @Fmcn.

HOWARD GRUBB, OF DUBLIN, IRELAND.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR BARB ETT E OR OTHER GUNS sen-canoe TION formingpart of Letters Patent at. 683,204, dated Se tember 24., 1901.

Application filed May 23,1901- Serial No. 61,613. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it; 71mg concern:

Be it known that I, HOW'ARD GRUBB, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at Dublin, Ireland, have inventedImprovements in Sighting Apparatus for Barbette or other Guns, of whichthe following is a specification.

For sighting barbette, turret, and like protected guns it is usual toprovide the armored hood, turret, or equivalent protecting means with aconning or lookout chamber, through which the object to be sighted andthe gun sight or sights can be simultaneously and directly viewed by aperson looking through an opening in the wall of the chamber. As will bereadily understood, this mode of sighting a gun involves danger to thosewho have to perform the duty.

Now this invention has for its object to enable barbette and otherprotected guns to be sighted without the necessity of looking directlythrough a chamber of the kind referred to or through or over the armoredhood or other device used for protecting the gun, so that the sightingcan be effected by a person completely under cover. For this purposethere are used in conjunction with the gun a sighting device thatcomprises a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingtherefrom parallel to one another, and a reflecting-surface (hereinaftercalled for dis tinction the lower reflector) through which an image ofthe sight produced by the parallel rays can be seen, and a reflectingdevice (hereinafter called for distinction the upper reflector) which isso arranged in relation to the gun or its cradle or mounting and thesighting device that luminous rays proceeding from a distant objectsituated in the longitudinal axis of the gun or at any vertical anglefrom the same and falling upon the surface of the upper reflector willbe reflected downward and caused to fall directly upon the lowerreflector, so that images of both the distant object and the sight canbe superposed and viewed simultaneously and under practically the sameoptical conditions as and for the purposes set forth in thespecification of another application for Letters Patent filed byn1e,dated December26,1900,Serial No. 41,152, the sighting device and theupper reflector being so connected to the gun or its cradle or mountingor barbette or equivalent that they will turn in a horizontal plane withthe gun, and the upper reflector being further mounted to turn about ahorizontal axis and being so connected to the gun or its cradle thatwhen the gun is turned in a vertical plane to suit any given range orposition of object the said upper reflector will be moved about itshorizontal axis in a vertical plane through an angle equal to half theangle through which the longitudinal axis of the gun is moved in avertical plane. The sighting device and upper reflector are so mountedthat they can be adjusted in a lateral direction about a Vertical centerto compensate for drift and Windpressure, and the upper reflector isfurther so mounted that it can be adjusted about a horizontal axis forelevation adjustment independently of the gun or its cradle or mounting.

Sighting apparatus of the kind described can be constructed in variousforms and used with protected guns of various types.

Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings show, respectively, in sideelevation and plan one arrangement of sighting apparatus according tothis invention applied in connection with a barbette-gun, the barbettein Fig. 1 being shown in vertical section on the line A A of Fig. 2, andin Fig. 2 in horizontal section on the line B B of Fig. 1. Fig. 3showsthe sighting device with part of the bar-bettegun and attached parts,partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, on the line C Oof Fig. 4E and to a larger scale than Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a plan of theparts shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line D D of Fig.3. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are diagrams.

In the arrangement shown the sighting device proper comprisesa tube 0.,arranged horizontally above the gun I) and below the top of the barbetteor armored hood 0 and provided at its forward end with an opaquediaphragm d, Figs. 3 and 5, formed with a transparent design-forexample, a cross or a circle e, (a circle is shown)-through which lightcan pass from a suitable source and which constitutes the sight proper,and at its rear end with a transparent bodyf, having an inclinedreflecting-surface g, (herein called the lower reflector,) there beingarranged at an intermediate part of the tube a an object'- glass h,whereby rays of light proceeding from the sight e will be renderedparallel before they pass through the transparent bodyfto the eye of anobserver. The diaphragm d, Figs. 3 and 5, may be of glass covered withsome opaque material-for example, a coating of silver or other metalorpaint-through which the design in the form of a thin line or lines toconstitute the sight e is out so as to appear as a bright design upon ablack ground when viewed by transmitted light. The said design or sightmay advantageously be illuminated by a lamp-for example, an electricincandescentlamp. The transparent body f, which constitutes the lowerreflector, may conveniently be a piece of parallel glass, and thereflecting power of one of the inclined surfaces thereof-say thelowerand inner su rface g thereof-may advantageously be increased bycoating the same with a film of a reflecting medium, such as silver orsulfid of lead, made so thin as to enable an image of the sighte to bereadilyseen through it. The said sighting device is fixed to a frame orcarriage is, mounted on a suitable support Z, which is fixed to astationary part m of the gun-mounting, so that when the gun is trainedin a horizontal direction the said support, frame or carriage, andsighting device will turn therewith. The support Zis provided with avertical pin or, to which the rear end of the frame or carriage 7c ispivoted, so that it and the sighting device carried thereby can by meansof suitable traversing means be adjusted in a lateral angular directionabout the vertical pin n as a center to compensate for drift,wind-pressure, or other purpose. The traversing means may be of anyknown or suitable construction. Conveniently it may be a spindle 0,mounted to turn in hearings on the support Z and provided with a worm p,in gear with a segment q of a worm-wheel fast on the lower. part of theframe or carriage 7c.

The reflecting device constituting the upper reflector comprises a planemirror 1', that is fixed to a carrier 8, pivoted to turn about ahorizontal axis 25 in a holder a, which is also arranged to turn about ahorizontal axis coinciding with t in the upper part of the frame orcarriage l, to which the sighting device proper is fixed. The mirror ris arranged within the conning chamber c, Fig. l, or equivalent chamberof the barbette c and opposite the sightopening w therein or in anyother convenient position, so that normally-that is to say, when thelongitudinal axis of the gun b is horizontal-the surface of the mirrorwill be at an angle of forty-five degrees to the said axis, so thathorizontal luminous rays 00 froma distant object falling upon the mirrorror upper reflector will be reflected vertically downward and fall uponthe inclined reflecting'surface g or lower reflector, where the image ofthe distant object can be caused to become superposed upon the image ofthe sight 6 as seen through such lower reflector.

The mirror-carrier s and holder u are provided with a screw adjustmentwith scale, so that the said carrier, with mirror, can be adjusted abouta horizontal axis on the said "holder to provide for elevationadjustment.

In the example the screw adjustment comprises a spindle 1, mounted torotate in the holder LL and provided with a worm 2, gearing with asegmental worm-wheel 3 on the carrier 5, which is provided with an index4,

arrangedadjacent to a scale 5 on the holder 7.6, representing degrees ofelevation.

By this screw adjustment the mirror 0" can be moved independently of theholder 11. through half the angle which the gun I) will need to beelevated to suit the range of a distant object.

-Then whenever the image of the object'is caused by the elevation andtraining of the gun to become superposed upon the center of the sight 6the gun will be properly set for firing at the object. To cause themirror '1 to turn through a vertical angle half that of the gun I), themirror-holder u may, as shown, he made as a sector and be connected atits periphery by a metal strip or ribbon 7 or like connection to theperiphery of a circular segment or sector 8, connected to the trunnion 9of the gun b or equivalent pivoted partabout which the gun turns in avertical plane and having a radius one-half that of the sectorshapedmirror-holder tt. X'Vhen afiexible strip or ribbon 7 is used as theconnector between the mirror-holder and the gun, the mirrorholder mustbe provided with means, such as a weight or spring, that tends to causea in its inclined position of forty-five degrees,

(see Fig. 6,) and when the gun, with sighting apparatus, hasbeencorrectly trained on the object horizontal luminous rays 00 comingfrom such object will by the upper reflector r be reflected downwardonto the lower reflector g of the sighting device, from which they willbe reflected backward in a horizontal directionwith the parallel rays yfrom the luminous sight 6, so that images of both the object and sightwill be seen simultaneously and under practically the same opticalconditions. If the object a be an elevated one-- say at an elevation of10, (ten degrees)but still sufticiently near to be fired at pointblank,the upperreflector 7' will upon the gun being elevated through an angleof 10 (ten degrees) be turned by the sector 8, conmotor 7, andsector-shaped holder u, Figs.

' 1 and 3, through half that angle, or 5, (five degrees,) Fig. 7, sothat when the gun has been correctly laid on the object the luminousrays 9; coming from the object will after reflection from the upper andlower reflectors r and g, respectively, again pass rearward parallel tothe rays passing rearward from the sight and admit of the images of theobject and sight being seen simultaneously. When the object 2 is at sucha distance as to require an elevation of, say, 5 (five degrees) of thegun to compensate for the range, in ad dition to any elevation that maybe necessary on account of the object being an ele- Vated one, then this5 (five degrees) is allowed for by getting the mirror-carrier s to readhalf the required elevation-viz., 2% (two and a half degrees) in theexample on the holder u, so that the upper reflector 7' will be inclinedat 42?, (forty-two and a half degrees,) Fig. 8, to the longitudinal axisof the gun. Then when the image of the 0bject-is by reflection againbrought opposite the center of the image of the sight 6 by sufficientlyelevating the gun the gun will point five degrees above the object andwill be correctly laid for firing at the object.

As will be obvious, sighting apparatus of the kind hereinbeforedescribed is specially suitable for use on war-ships that are liable toroll, because notwithstanding the rolling of the ship when the gun andsighting apparatus have been properly'trained on the object andadjusted, if necessary, to compensate for the range of the object thegun will be correctly laid for firing at the object each time the imageof the object is caused by the rolling of the ship to coincide with theimage of the sight.

To enable a wider field of view to be taken at the commencement of asighting operation, a concave lens 10 may be mounted in front of theplane mirror 1" for more readily locating a distant object which it isdesired to fire at, after which the concave lens may be removed by someconvenient means to enable more accurate sighting of the object to beeflected by the plane mirror. The concave lens 10 may be fixed in aframe or holder 11, that is hinged or otherwise so mounted-as, forexample, upon the frame or carriage Z, as shown that by pulling a string12 or operating some other convenient means in a suitable direction frombelow the said frame or holder 11, with lens 10, can be easily movedinto the operative or inoperative position at will.

lVhat I claim is-- 1. In sighting apparatus for a barbette or otherprotected gun, the combination with the gun and its protect-ing means,of a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingtherefrom parallel, a reflectingsurface through which an image of thesight produced by the parallel rays can be seen, refleeting meansarranged to receive luminous rays from a distant object and reflect themonto said reflecting-surface so that images of the distant object andsight can be superposed and viewed simultaneously, and mechanism forcausing said reflecting means to turn through a vertical angle half thatthrough which said gun is turned in a vertical plane.

2. In sighting apparatus for a barbette or other protected gun, thecombination with the gun and its protecting means, of a sighting devicecomprising a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingthere from parallel, and a reflecting-surface constituting a lowerreflector through which an image of the sight produced by the parallelrays can be seen, an upper inclined reflector arranged to receiveluminous rays from a distant object and reflect them onto said lowerreflector so that images of the distant object and sight can besuperposed and viewed simultaneously, means for causing said sightingdevice and upper reflector to turn horizontally with and to the sameextent as said gun, and means for causing said upper reflector to turnthrough half the vertical angle through which said gun turns when thesame is elevated.

3. In sighting apparatus for a barbette or other protected gun, thecombination with the gun and its protecting means, of a sighting devicecomprising a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingtherefrom parallel, and a lower reflector inclined to the horizontal andthrough which an image of the sight produced by parallel rays can beseen, an upper reflector inclined to the horizontal and arranged toreceive luminous rays from a distant object and reflect them downwardonto said lower reflector so that images of the distant object and sightcan be superposed and viewed simultaneously, means for causing saidsighting device and reflecting means to turn horizontally with and tothe same extent as said gun, means for adjusting said sighting deviceand upper reflector in a lateral angular manner relatively ;to said gun,and means for causing said upper reflector to turn through half thevertical angle through which said gun turns when the same is elevated. A

4. In sighting apparatus for a barbette or other protected gun, thecombination with the gun and its protecting means, of a sighting devicecomprising a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingtherefrom parallel, and a lower reflector inclined to the horizontal andthrough which an image of the sight produced by parallel rays can beseen, an upper reflector inclined to the horizontal and arranged toreceive luminous rays from a distant object and reflect them downwardonto said lower reflector so thatimages of the distant object and sightcan be superposed and viewed simultaneously, a holder mounted to turnabout a horizontal axis and wherein said upper reflector is mounted toalso turn about a horizontal axis,

means for adjusting said upper reflector about its horizontal axisrelatively tosaid holder, means for causing said sighting device andupper reflector with its holder to turn horizontally with and to thesame extent as said gun, and means for causing said holder and upperreflector to turn through a vertical angle half that through which saidgun. turns when the same is elevated.

5. In sighting apparatus for a barbctte or other protected gun, thecombination with the gun and its protecting means, of a sighting devicecomprising a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingtherefrom parallel, and a lower reflector inclined to the horizontal andthrough which an image of the sight produced by parallel rays can beseen, an upper reflector inclined to the horizontal and arranged toreceive luminous rays from a distant object and reflect them downwardonto said lower reflector so that images of the distant object and sightcan be superposed and viewed simultaneously, meansfor causing saidsighting device and reflecting means to turn horizontally with and tothe same extent as said gun, means for causing said upper reflector toturn through half the vertical angle through which said gun turnswhen-the same is elevated, and a concave lens adapted to be brought infront of said upper reflector and to be afterward moved out of position,substantially as described for the purpose specified.

i 6. In sighting apparatus for a barbette or other protected gun, thecombination with the gun and its protecting means, of a sighting devicecarried by the gunmounting and comprising a sight proper, means forrendering luminous rays proceeding therefrom parallel, and a lowerreflectorinclined to the horizontal and through which an image of thesight produced by parallel rays can be seen, an upper reflector inclinedto the horizontal and arranged to receive luminous rays from a distantobject and reflect them downward onto said lower reflector so thatimages of the distant object and sight can be superposed and viewedsimultaneously, a holder connected to said sighting device, mounted toturn about a horizontal axis and wherein said upper reflector is mountedto also turn about a horizontal axis, means for adjusting said upperreflector relatively to said holder, and means for causing said holderand upper reflector to turn through a vertical angle half that throughwhich said gun turns when the same is elevated.

7. In sighting apparatus for barbettc and other protected guns, thecombination with a gun and its protecting means, of a sighting devicecomprising a tube provided at one end with a diaphragm bearing aluminous sight, at the other end with a reflecting-surface arranged atan angle to the horizontal and through which an image of the sight canbe seen, and at an intermediate .part with means for rendering luminousrays coming from the sight parallel before theyreach the said refleeting-surface, a reflecting device comprisin g a plane mirrorarrangeddirectlyabove the inclined surface of the sighting device and at anangle of forty-five degrees to the longitudinal axis of the gun, whenthis axis is horizontal, a holder mounted to turn about a horizontalaxis and wherein said mirror is mounted to also turn about a horizontalaxis, means for adjusting said mirror about its horizontal axisrelatively to said holder, and means whereby said holder and mirrorwill, when the gun is elevated, be caused to turn about their commonhorizontal axisthrough a vertical angle half that through which the gunis turned, substantially as described for the purpose specified.

8. In sighting apparatus for a barbette or other protected gun, thecombination with the gun and its mount-ing and protecting means, ofiasighting device mounted to turn about a vertical axis on saidgun-mounting and comprising a sight proper, means for rendering luminousrays proceeding therefrom parallel, and an inclined lower reflectorthrough which an image of the sight produced by the parallel rays can beseen, means for adjusting said sighting device in alateraldirection.onsaid gun-mountin g, a sector-shaped mirror-holderattached to said sighting device and capable of moving about ahorizontal axis, a mirrorcarrier mounted to turn about a. horizontalaxis in said holder, an inclined mirror fixed to said carrier above thelower inclinedreflector, a sector-shaped segment fixed to one of thegun-trunnions and having half the radius of the mirror-holder, and aflexible connector between said mirror-holder and trunnion-segment,substantially as described.

9. The combination with a gun and a barbette inclosing the same andprovided at the top with a chamber having an opening in its front wall,of a sighting device capable of being adjusted ina lateral angulardirection on a normally stationary part of the gunmounting andcomprising a sight proper, means for rendering luminous rays proceedingtherefrom parallel, and an inclined reflecting-surface through which animageof the sight produced by parallel rays can be seen, an inclinedreflector located in the barbette-chamber opposite the opening therein,a pivoted holder connected to said sighting device so as to turntherewith in a lateralflangular manner when the same is adjustedrelarays proceeding therefrom parallel, and an inclinedieflectingsurface through which an image of the sight produced byparallel rays can be seen, a carriage capable of being adjusted in alateral angular direction on the gun-mounting about a vertical axis andto which said sighting device is attached, a sector-shaped holdermounted to turn about a horizontal axis in said carriage, an inclinedmirror located in said barbette-chalnber opposite the opening therein, acarrier mounted to turn about a horizontal axis on said holder and toWhich said mirror is fixed, means for adjusting said carrier and mirrorin said holder for elevation adjustment, a circular segment secured toone of the gun-trunnions and made of half the radius of said holder, anda flexible connection between said holder and segment, substantially asdescribed for the purposes specified.

Signed at Dublin this 13th day of May, 1901.

HOWARD GRUBB.

I Witnesses:

WM. G. VEREKER, PERCY WINDER.

